This is a study of the penal population in Europe and North America. Russia and the USA stand out as the major incarcerating nations. The history of penal developments in Finland is used as a case for describing how penal populations are created by historical awareness and political identifications and intentions. The Baltic countries are now in the same dilemmas as Finland in the early 1960 - will they seek towards a Scandinavian or Easter-European solution? Prison figures are cultural phenomena, but then with political consequences. The developments in both Russia and in the USA give reason for grave concern
Neste artigo, o autor apresenta um novo ramo da criminologia, a “geografia penal”, justificando-o pela análise das taxas de encarceramento na Europa, na América do Norte e na América Latina. Procura-se mostrar como as variações dessas taxas, no tempo e no espaço, respondem antes a fatores culturais e geopolíticos do que ao nível ou à evolução da criminalidade nos diferentes países